


Past, Present, Future

by mysteryinc



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 17:58:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17268788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteryinc/pseuds/mysteryinc
Summary: catradora new year's eve thing, the horde kids learn abt a new holiday not celebrated in the fright zone. enjoy!





	Past, Present, Future

It was nearly three in the morning when Catra stumbled back home, still humming along to whatever karaoke song Scorpia had decided would be their last. When Catra wasn’t drunk, she had a pretty decent voice. Right now, though, Adora wouldn’t wager money guessing what tune was tumbling from Catra’s lips.

It was sort of adorable.

“There you go,” Scorpia narrated as she helped Catra up the step into the apartment. Adora yawned, stepping aside for Catra’s friend. Glitter and melting snow sparkled in her hair, and more than enough of it to give Glimmer a good run for her money.

Adora glanced at Catra to see if she’d gotten the same treatment, and grinned like a fool when she saw her girlfriend’s ears twinkling in the firelight.

“Hot cocoa for you in the kitchen, Scorpia.” The whole house smelled of the rich, dark chocolate–a special homemade blend, courtesy of Bow’s dads. Bow and Glimmer had each fallen asleep on the couch with new chocolate moustaches, and Adora dutifully took half a dozen photos from half a dozen angles to make certain the memory would be documented for the amusement of generations to come.

Scorpia thanked her heartily for the hot chocolate, throwing it back like a shot. It never ceased to surprise Adora how small her mugs were in Scorpia’s huge claws, and she watched on in awe.

She snuck behind Scorpia to fill a tall glass with water at the sink, and pushed it into Catra’s hands.

Catra, who was currently fascinated by her own tail.

“Here, drink this,” Adora said in a whisper, hoping Catra would catch on. Glimmer stirred and murmured something incomprehensible in her sleep, and Bow slept like the dead beside her.

“Shhhhh.” All of the air in Catra’s lungs left at the reprimand, and Adora winced and bit back a laugh, forcing herself not to encourage the behavior. Catra would keep it up if she kept smiling about it, and Adora was not in the mood for a tired Glimmer tirade.

At least Catra was being fairly compliant. She tipped the glass to her lips, looking over the top at Adora the whole time, as if to make sure she was watching her.

Adora certainly wasn’t watching anybody else. Her friends were asleep, Scorpia was getting into the cookies they’d baked, board games and streamers littered the apartment floor, and Catra was sparkling. Literally sparkling.

They’d never get it out of their sheets.

Well, as Catra would say: problem for future Adora.

“C’mon, dork. Finish that, and then let’s go to bed.”

“Bed sounds great,” Catra said when she finally downed about three fourths of the glass and came up for air. Her voice sounded rougher and huskier than usual. A combination of smoke and drinking. Adora had been to the place once with Scorpia and Catra, and Catra had even coaxed her into a duet, with a bit of bribery. She’d liked the singing, but never did feel comfortable dancing, even after she’d loaded up on a variety of the most outlandish alcoholic beverages she’d ever heard of.

From what she recalled, the place was home base for people with a lot of piercings, and a lot of tattoos. Last time she was there, someone had offered to poke her ears in the bathroom for a pack of cigarettes.

A brief examination of Catra revealed no extra holes and no new tattoos.

“Bed it is,” Adora responded softly, letting Catra lean on her and play with her hair. Her girlfriend reeked of smoke and alcohol, and soon, so would the whole bed. Adora murmured a goodnight to Scorpia and gestured to the blowup mattress she’d inflated for her in the living room.

Catra collapsed in the bed and purred as loud as a lawnmower, reaching back blindly for Adora to drag her down, too.

“Babe.”

“I’m here, Catra,” she laughed, rubbing her back.

“I missed you  _so much_.”

Adora chuckled. “I missed you, too. Did you have fun?”

“No, you don’t get it. I  _missed_  you. So. Much.” Catra rolled over so she was flopped on her back, her legs still hanging over the edge of the mattress. Those two mismatched eyes held mischief in them.

Adora lifted an eyebrow. “Did you now? And why is that?”

Catra grinned and bolted upright, catching Adora in an urgent, playful kiss.

“Because I haven’t seen you since last year.”

Catra’s dry, boisterous laughter overshadowed Adora’s groan. She had done this to herself. She had chosen to willingly fall in love with this dork.

It made her warm, like she was sitting by that fire rather than being kissed by cold lips and cradled by cold hands.

“Your first bad joke of the new year. How’s it feel?”

Catra beamed at her, one fang sneaking past the edge of her lip. “Delightful.”

“Good.” She reached up and rubbed the base of one of Catra’s ears, the soft fur now coarse with gritty pieces of glitter. “I have a gift for you, by the way.”

“Gift? Is that part of this holiday?” She sounded genuinely baffled for a moment, and then a look of mortification swept across her features. “I didn’t get you anything, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was part of this one.” Panic had sunk its teeth into her pitch, each word rising higher than the last.

Adora’s heart ached. “No,” she said softly, “no, it’s okay, Catra.” She bit back the excuse, the urge to explain herself. Of course she hadn’t meant for a simple gesture to throw Catra back into old habits and old memories. But the fact was, it had. She needed to start owning that.

“You didn’t forget anything. I just wanted to surprise you with something nice. You deserve it.”

Whatever phantoms had haunted Catra’s stare slowly faded as Adora’s warm promise broke the fog. She blinked, and her claws retracted from the death grip they’d had on their comforter. She tilted her head curiously.

Adora gauged the situation, looked Catra over for further distress, and then decided she looked placated enough for her to go grab the box from atop their dresser. It was a long, thin, rectangular box, a shade of lavender with flowery white script.

“There’s actually something inside the box, right?” Catra took it and shook it before Adora had a chance to respond.

“You’ve got a good memory considering your state.” She repositioned herself so she was sitting cross-legged on the bed while Catra sniffed around the present.

She seemed satisfied it actually contained a gift, and pried off the lid. Adora smiled to herself as Catra gently lifted out the cashmere white and red scarf, holding it gently between her hands, as if she thought it would tear in two at the slightest tug. A matching beanie and pair of gloves still laid in the box, untouched.

“…would’ve been nice to have these for the walk home.” Catra’s voice was thick. Adora reached out a hand and smiled softly, covering Catra’s knuckles with her fingers.

“Glad you like it, love.”

Catra cleared her throat, nodded and wiped at her eyes quickly with the back of her hand after wrapping the scarf tight around her neck. Then she pulled the beanie on over her ears, and Adora had to keep from wincing. Glitter would just be something their house would have to get used to for awhile.

“Thanks, Adora. This is perfect.”

It looked perfect, but that was mostly Catra’s doing. She always did. It felt even more perfect when they kissed, slowly and deeply this time.

“Happy new year, babe.”


End file.
